SEE VIDEO OF JESSICA FILIP
AT COMSTOCKSMAG.COM
WALL WEAVINGS
Jessica Filip’s favorite weaving projects are
the large commissions that take several
weeks to complete, such as her 6-foot-
by-6-foot wall hanging displayed in South,
a restaurant in Sacramento, or an 8-foot-
by-12-foot piece for a client’s cabin in
Montana. Her larger commissions range
from $1,600 to $4,000. “I love working on
private commissions so much because you
get to realize someone’s vision,” says the
Sacramento artist, who recently rebranded
her business from The Northern Needle to
Jessica Filip Studio to reflect an evolution
to more serious, high-end pieces. Filip
uses only handspun, hand-dyed yarn in
her creations. “I was very much thinking of
iron and earth when I started this, because
of this gorgeous natural fiber,” she says of
her latest project (pictured left). For this
piece, she drew inspiration from the iron
deposits she saw in the fairy pools on the
Isle of Skye during a recent trip to Scotland.
“It looks like somebody went in and poured
copper-colored paint over rocks,” she says.
“So that was kind of the look I was going
for.” She uses a clothing rack as a loom, and
a tool called a shuttle and passing stick to
create a temporary separation between the
yarns to pass more yarn through (pictured
above). “With weaving, it’s all about going
above and behind, and up and down, and
creating a grid,” she says. Once finished,
this piece will be for sale on Filip’s website;
her work is also available through the
West Elm Local program, which connects
the company with independent makers
to sell their products in local stores. Filip
completes at least one major commission
a year in addition to these smaller pieces.
“Sometimes it’s pre-sketched or pre-
designed, and I have a very clear idea
of what I want,” she says of her artwork.
“And sometimes I just know the size and
the color scheme, and I just kind of dive in
and see what happens.” n
August 2019 | comstocksmag.com
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